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Michael Ramage is the Executive Director of Connected Tennessee

<ed.note>Though I probably would have gone with a TN-based web site designer to begin with ( this stuff can be oh, so, political! ) I’m glad he’s finally here. Wonder if we’ll follow Mexico’s No Mas Cables approach? Or maybe deploy a Stratellite™ grid? Or a Nokia mesh?

Michael Ramage ( mramage@connectedtn.org , 615-828-5113 ) is the Executive Director of Connected Tennessee, a division of Connected Nation, Inc. Mr. Ramage is responsible for leading the successful implementation of the State of Tennessee’s Trail to Innovation, a comprehensive broadband deployment and adoption plan slated to leverage state, federal and private investment aimed at blanketing Tennessee with high-speed Internet access, as well as improving the use of technology and the Internet.

Mr. Ramage previously served as a Project Manager for ConnectKentucky, Connected Nation’s Kentucky initiative. In this role, he was responsible for facilitating comprehensive GIS-based Inventory Assessment of existing broadband infrastructure and service availability, the community-by-community implementation planning process and ensuring that every county in Kentucky’s western region has an online presence and the ability to improve the quality of life at the local level. Through this effort, communities were empowered to use technology applications and build partnerships that provided real-time budget savings and process efficiencies over the Internet, ensuring their ability to compete within the local and global marketplace.

Prior to joining ConnectKentucky, Mr. Ramage served Murray State University as Special Projects Leader, Lecturer and Network Manager within the Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology and the Center for Telecommunications Systems Management. While at Murray State, he was the recipient of grants from the National Science Foundation, Cisco Systems Inc., the United States Department of Education and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Other accomplishments include the development of GIS mapping for Calloway County, which was the precursor to the mapping performed by Connected Nation, and the development of the International Telecommunications Education and Research Association. Additionally, Mr. Ramage led the West Kentucky Telehealth Initiative and conducted research on various telecommunications topics. Prior to joining Murray State University, he worked as a Network Specialist for BellSouth Telecommunications in Nashville following his employment as a Computer Technician at Camco Technologies in Paducah, Kentucky.

Mr. Ramage has an Information Assurance Graduate Education Certificate from Purdue University’s Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security. Additionally, he has a Masters of Science in Telecommunications Systems Management and a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science, both from Murray State University. Among the industry certifications that Mr. Ramage has held include Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Cisco Certified Network Associate. Mr. Ramage was also bestowed the honorary title of a Kentucky Colonel for his work with technology in Kentucky. He is married to his beautiful wife, Brittany, and is the proud father of a baby girl, Shelby.